Page 33 of Ace (The Deuces Wild #4)

They made quick time to where Savannah had parked her car, but she walked past it in the dark, needing to get to Gran Mere’s humble home before her flashlight flickered one more time.

It had been one heck of a long, hard day, and she was tired.

She had extra clothes at Gran Mere’s, and she could sleep.

Keller could rest there, too. But something was wrong.

There was discord in the threads of the universe tonight. Savannah could sense it.

Keller must’ve picked up on her unease. “You feel it, too,” he said as he fell in step at her side.

“I sense something,” she admitted. But not until Red let out a battle cry did Savannah break into a run.

Ever faithful Keller jogged beside as she batted branches and shoved low hanging vines out of her way, hoping her toes or flip-flops didn’t snag a vine or root as she ran.

Sir Galahad plowed through the brush at her side.

The way loomed extra dark ahead, and she could feel it.

Whatever it was. Something big and black and—empty. A void.

Savannah nearly tripped over Galahad’s stalwart body in the dark. He’d stopped in her path. Only then did she understand what she wasn’t seeing. Gran Mere’s houseboat was gone.

“What the hell?” Keller hissed, his feet spread wide and his hands on his hips. “I didn’t think that boat was mobile.”

“It isn’t,” she replied as her flashlight spotlighted the empty space. “It was on concrete blocks, not wheels or a trailer. That’s why the skirting.”

Deep ruts marked where heavy equipment had dragged the houseboat off its concrete pad and through the brush.

The gangplank now lay flat to the ground, and Gran Mere’s overgrown flowerbeds were crushed.

Her oak tree had been smoothly cut at ground level, the massive hardwood rolled aside to make room for the theft.

She coughed, her heart stuck in her throat. “They…He… S-s-someone took everything.”

“This had to have happened right after we left this morning,” Keller said.

Savannah combed a hand through her hair, tired of running only to end up empty-handed and bereft. “Whoever did this must’ve had heavy equipment on standby. They must’ve been watching me. That tree’s been here forever. But who would’ve known Gran Mere was gone, and that we’d just—? ”

“Left? Dr. John,” Keller interrupted. “He knew. Where’s he live?”

She turned to Keller, shaking her head. “He wouldn’t do this. Not RJ. He’s been Gran Mere’s friend since I can remember. Even as a kid, he used to bring her flowers. He was good to us.”

Keller cupped her elbow. “We’ll still need to talk to him. Maybe he knows something. Come on. Give me your keys.”

She handed her car keys over, and Savannah let Keller usher her away from the barren hole that had once been Gran Mere’s magical humble home.

Both dogs trotted along, Galahad at her side, Red at Keller’s.

They hadn’t gone far before she couldn’t go any farther “No, Keller. Not tonight. Please. I can’t. I just can’t keep going.”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered. “You’re right. What am I thinking? You’re exhausted. I should’ve picked up on that before now. How about we get a couple rooms instead?”

“Yes, please,” she said on a sigh. “A shower’d be nice, too.”

“And dinner. We haven’t eaten a damned thing since breakfast, and we’ve both been running our asses off.”

The flashlight died, plunging them into darkness, and that was the last straw.

The day won. Gran Mere was never coming back, and no matter how hard Savannah tried, she couldn’t contain her grief.

She stumbled. But before she fell to her hands and knees, which would’ve been humiliating, Keller caught her and pulled her into his arms. Her head hit his chest and there she stayed.

“I’m sorry,” she cried, ashamed for her weakness.

“Shush,” he told her as he backtracked to her car. “Even tough guys need to recharge their batteries once in a while, and you’re one tough princess.”

Hmmm. Princess. She liked the sound of that.

Savannah dried her tears as she curled one arm over his shoulder.

Peace came to her as she absorbed the strength and power rolling off this man.

She listened to the steady beat of his heart.

He hadn’t faltered. Not once. Not really.

Even his perceived weakness—his need to provide comfort at the risk of a killer migraine—had simply been another gift he hadn’t known how to properly handle.

Psychic talents didn’t come with user manuals, and he hadn’t had anyone like Gran Mere in his life to teach him.

“You’ve got me now,” she murmured as they cleared the trees. Thank heavens her car was right where she’d left it. Its parking lights winked when Keller hit remote unlock.

“And you’ve got me,” he answered quietly.

Hmmm. That was even nicer than being called Princess.

In minutes, they were on the road. Red and Galahad sat obediently in the backseat, and Keller seemed to know precisely where he was going. Savannah closed her eyes, so weary. So sad. She’d been strong long enough. She needed to sleep for five minutes. Ten at the most.

Didn’t it figure? The girl drove a Buick.

And not just any Buick, but an older model like so many retired people owned.

Probably Gran Mere’s. Not what Keller expected, yet he should have known.

It handled smoothly enough, but the car was a long, gray boat.

Something flashy and red would’ve suited Savannah better, yet this one accommodated the dogs.

They’d certainly been on their best behavior tonight.

Keller adjusted the rearview mirror, smiling as he glanced at Galahad and Red.

Both sat looking at the scenery flashing by.

Activating the rear windows, he gave them some air.

Just what they wanted. Both put their snouts to the cracked windows, and damned if they didn’t look like they were smiling in the dark. Dogs. Gotta love them.

Keller steered toward the bright lights of New Orleans.

Lit against the western night sky, it loomed ahead like Vegas.

Carefully so he didn’t wake Savannah, he retrieved his cell from his pants pocket and asked Siri for directions to the closest five-star hotel.

Why settle for decent when this might be the only night he had with Savannah?

Siri complied promptly, and wasn’t that the best reason for these heavier, ruggedized FBI phones? They still worked after a swim in the swamp.

Adeptly, Keller navigated away from the bayou, over the I-10 bridge, and past the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge.

Finally in the Big Easy, he headed through the winding streets for one of New Orlean’s better hotels.

He could’ve stopped at the Windsor on Gravier Street, but the Ritz-Carlton on Canal Street was a mere eight blocks away.

He kept going. Savannah didn’t wake when he parked the car.

This was where a woman like her belonged.

He told the dogs to be quiet, then locked the vehicle and quickly procured a ground-level, pet-friendly suite with two bedrooms and a full kitchen.

Keller ordered room service for four before he turned the Buick over to the baby-faced valet attendant, gave the kid a twenty, and then lifted Savannah out of the front seat and into his arms.

That was when things got tricky. Two dogs. One passed out woman. How was he going to get from the car to his room? Leave the dogs in the car in this humid heat? Not going to happen. He couldn’t leave the Buick running—

“Y’all need some help?” the attendant asked.

“Actually…” Keller couldn’t take a chance on losing Galahad or Red in this city, but neither could he manage getting two dogs and Savannah into their room at the same time.

And he sure as hell couldn’t risk this young man’s life by leaving him alone with these dogs.

“Listen. I can’t take the dogs with me just now.

If you don’t mind keeping an eye on my car, I’ll make two trips.

I have to keep it running.” And hope Savannah has a couple leashes in her trunk.

“Ya sure I can’t walk your dogs up for you? They look plenty friendly— ”

Galahad chose that precise moment to hit the window like an Abrams tank, smearing his drooling chops across the glass.

“Holy shit!” the valet hissed as he stumbled backward.

Still holding onto Savannah, Keller managed to snag the young black man’s sleeve before he tripped on the curb and broke his face.

“These dogs are dangerous, mister,” he said, his eyes wide and white against his dark skin. “You can’t be bringing killer dogs into this hotel. No sir, you just can’t do that.”

“Listen,” Keller said evenly. “I’m a federal agent and these dogs are my witnesses.

They’re under my protection, same as this woman.

But I’m in a bind, and I don’t have crates to secure them yet.

All I need is for you to watch my car until I get back.

They’ll be fine, I just can’t turn the engine off.

It’s too hot out here. I’ll only be a couple minutes, and trust me, these dogs are not killers. ”

Galahad hit the window again, making Keller look like a liar. Just great. “Will you knock it off?” he ground out, losing his temper. “I get it. You’re hungry. Well, so is Savannah and so am I, now sit. You’re scaring my new friend here.”

Of all things, Galahad sat on his haunches like the good boy he wasn’t.

“Your name please?” Keller asked his ‘new friend.’

“Roger,” the young man supplied as he eyed the dogs. “Roger Tanner. ”

“Good to meet you, Roger. I’m Special Agent Keller Boniface out of FBI Headquarters, Washington, DC. I’d shake your hand, but I’m a bit busy.” As light as Savannah was, he needed to put her down before his right arm fell asleep.

“You sure these dogs are safe?”

Keller nodded. “They are but they’ve both been used in dog fighting rings. They don’t trust just anyone. The setter’s Red, the Pitbull is Galahad.”

“Aww…” Roger leaned into the window again, his forearm braced against the car roof. “I’d never hurt a dog. You can trust me, boy,” he told Galahad through the glass.

The Pitbull stared up at the young man, drooling like a beast.

“We’ve had a difficult day, and they’re both worried… Wait! Don’t do that!”

But Roger had already opened the car door. He stood with one hand extended for Galahad to rip off, the other easy on the handle. Both dogs peered up at him like torpedoes primed and ready to launch.

“Stay!” Keller ordered even as Roger told them both to, “Come on down.”

Red glanced at Keller before, gingerly, taking one elegant step around Galahad’s squat, square body. The Pitbull still looked like a slobbering, grumpy troll who might eat Roger alive—just because. But Red stepped out of the Buick, and inched toward that extended piece of meat called Roger’s hand.

“I wish you hadn’t done that,” Keller growled, but the deed was done.

There was only one thing to do. He projected his empathy for these particular dogs into Roger.

What he came up against was… Whoa. Roger had the heart of a lion and the memory of…

Zero. Golden Malinois. Smartest, dumbest, bestest K-9 in the world!

Roger’s impressions tumbled into Keller’s mind like a handful of Legos.

He was no kid. He was a baby-faced USMC vet, a jarhead who’d not only seen combat in Afghanistan, but who’d seen it with an EOD trained K-9 named Zero.

Together, Roger and Zero had sniffed out IEDs, suicide bombers, munitions dumps, you name it. They’d saved USMC and Army lives.

That was a weirdly wonderful first, reading memories instead of pain. Damned near took Keller’s breath.

“Sit,” Roger told Red once the nosey dog took a good sniff of the back of his hand.

Politely, Red dropped his butt to the driveway, and Roger knelt with him. “Good boy,” he praised as he fondled Red’s pointed head. “As for you…” He turned to Galahad. “I’m not going to hurt you. Come.”

Keller held his breath. The Pitbull looked like a cross between a bulldog, a snout-nosed alligator, and a miniature tank.

All jaws, chest, muscle, and teeth, he stared at Roger, then looked away and sniffed the air.

He snorted, but by hell, he dropped out of that Buick like a bag of cement on four stubby legs, then calmly took his place beside his kennel mate.

“You’re good with dogs,” Keller said though he already knew the answer .

“We get along. You boys know how to heel?” Roger asked the dogs as, tentatively, he offered the back of his hand to the drooling pittie. Damned if Galahad didn’t wrinkle his nose and snort like he might chew on those fingers. But then he sniffed Roger’s hand.

Red’s tail swished, his eyes now bright instead of distrustful.

And Keller started breathing again.

“Sir, are you ready to move forward?” Roger asked. “I’ll handle the dogs for you, no problem, but we need to be quick. I still have to park your ride.”

Keller didn’t miss how Roger’s sharp black eyes skated over Savannah’s long legs to her backside to her pretty face. It had been a long and interesting day, but Roger needed to keep his eyes to himself. Keller tucked his sleeping beauty under his chin and led the way.